This invention relates generally to methods for cooking meat automatically, and more particularly to methods for cooking meat in a thermal oven automatically to a desired degree of doneness and finishing exactly at a selected time, by controlling the temperature of the oven being used to cook the meat.
It is conventional to roast meat automatically by cooking for a length of time selected by the cook. If the cook errs in estimating the weight of the roast, however, the meat will be under- or overcooked. Other variations in the meat (fat content, thickness) affect the optimum cooking time but are difficult to allow for accurately in setting the cooking time.
According to another well-known method, the cook selects the temperature the interior of the meat will have when the desired degree of doneness is reached. The oven automatically turns off when the meat reaches the selected temperature. Assuming that the cook knows the correct internal meat temperature for a given meat and a given doneness, the meat can be cooked as desired. The problem is that variations in the thickness and fat content of the roast cause variations in the cooking time required, as a result of which the cook can not predict accurately when the meat will be done.
A third well-known method, suitable for use only with microwave ovens, is to cook the meat to the desired doneness and then to reduce the rate of energy input to a meat to a level just sufficient to keep the meat at the desired temperature, without cooking it further. In this method, the doneness of the meat is measured by its internal temperature. This method is inherently inapplicable to thermal ovens.